Virulent bacteriophages can develop only through a lytic pathway. They cannot form lysogens by stable integration of their genome with a host cell. However, some virulent phages are able to establish unstable interaction with the host cell and form pseudolysogens.

Virulent phages

Virulent bacteriophages start their life cycle when they adsorb to a permissive host. They inject their genetic material into the host and start to produce viral proteins and copies of the virus genome, using bacterial resources and biosynthetic apparatus. Progeny virus particles are formed and after completing the cycle, they are released after host cell lysis. The animation showing the life cycle of a virulent bacteriophage is shown below:

You can download this animation here and use it for non-commercial purposes.

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Created: redF5